Red Light
Lyrics
Seven-forty, brake lights glow
A thousand engines in a row
My collar's straight, my coffee's black
The workday voice is settling back
Then three notes I would know asleep
Come swimming upward through the deep
I reach to turn the music low
Some younger hand won't let it go
The first line barely leaves my mouth
A mumble headed vaguely south
The second's louder than I planned
The third one's out of my command
By four the dashboard is a stage
And I am half my listed age
Green can wait, the chorus can't
I'm singing like the radio's mine
Let them look from the other lane
The suit can have me back at nine
The driver waiting on my right
Has caught the whole show at the light
My ears go hot, the mask leans in
Ready to tuck the kid back in
But she's just laughing, and not unkind
Her lips are moving too
Never mind
The verse climbs up, I climb along
Two strangers in two different songs
The morning grid, the glass, the chrome
For one whole minute, this is home
And every mile of practiced face
Is running out of parking space
Green can wait, the chorus can't
I'm singing like the radio's mine
Let them look from the other lane
The suit can have me back at nine
The signal's green, the horns begin
I roll the window down and grin
One more line
One more mile
I'm not turning it down
The light can change, the song holds on
The whole road's momentarily mine
Let them look from every lane
The kid is driving me to nine
Engine off
The song's still on
Somewhere underneath my tongue
I hum it up the elevator
Let them look
I'll see them later